Archive for May, 2007

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By Russ on May 25th, 2007

Europe agrees new audiovisual media services directive…

Details here. We’re told:
“The new Audiovisual Media Services without frontiers Directive, now agreed by Parliament and Council, will allow the audiovisual sector confront the profound changes it faces to accommodate technological and market developments, and changing viewing habits resulting from convergence. The Directive ensures that the modernised rules cover all audiovisual media services, regardless [...]

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By Russ on May 24th, 2007

Ofcom decide Celebrity Big Brother / Shilpa Shetty matter…

Ofcom today issued the results of its inquiry into whether Channel 4 breached the Broadcast Code with respect to the Celebrity Big Brother / Shilpa Shetty matter. (We heart Shilpa here at OfcomWatch)
The full document is here. [70-page .pdf]
Basically, the outcome is that Ofcom found Channel 4 in breach and the sanction is that [...]

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By Luke on May 24th, 2007

Ofcom publish Big Brother adjudication – ’serious editorial misjudgements’

Ofcom today published its Adjudication on Channel Four’s broadcast of Celebrity Big Brother 2007.
Ofcom’s investigation found that Channel Four made serious editorial misjudgements, compounded by a serious failure of its compliance process. Ofcom has therefore found Channel Four in breach of the Broadcasting Code and has imposed a statutory sanction on Channel [...]

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By Russ on May 23rd, 2007

ITsafe: Waste of taxpayer money?

Check out ITsafe — a government funded website that — according to its homepage provides ‘home users and small businesses with warnings and news about computer security problems. ITsafe is a free UK government service.’
I’ve previously pointed out how lame this nameless and faceless site looks. It probably also (poorly) replicates other computer security [...]

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By Russ on May 21st, 2007

Swedish politics on UK television — lost in translation?

Someone sent OfcomWatch a very funny email this morning concerning Ofcom’s recent Broadcast Bulletin [85-page .pdf]. They write in part:
‘There is a Swedish language programme on UK Satellite TV which can’t be viewed by many people. (Less than 10k???) Prior to the recent general election, it broadcasted a programme at 10pm on the tax [...]

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By Russ on May 18th, 2007

Friday round-up…

Howdy folks, here is what’s knocking about lately:
* I spent most of the week in London meeting people for my PhD research on Ofcom. After having met about 30 people so far one thing really surfaces: Other than to report that people generally give Ofcom credit for improving regulation in this sector [...]

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By Russ on May 13th, 2007

What kind of ICT user are you?

I’ve always admired the work of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Their research is usually excellent and made readily available to the public. Anyway, they have something new on their website — slightly silly — but still nevertheless interesting. It’s called the Typology of Information and Communications Technology Users, [...]

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By Russ on May 11th, 2007

Imagine the roaming charges…

BBC News reports:
“A British climber is in the closing stages of an attempt to set a world record for the highest mobile call.
Rod Baber is making final preparations to scale Mount Everest and make the call from its north ridge.
Following weeks of acclimatisation, Mr Baber is now at base camp recuperating and checking equipment prior [...]

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By Russ on May 11th, 2007

Friday round-up…

Another week down the drain:Â
Â *Â First, a very special note from your friends at OfcomWatch:Â It’s been four years since we started this little website.Â Wanna see what it was like at the very beginning courtesy of the internet archive?Â Click here.Â Actually, we really started the idea of OfcomWatch in December 2002, but the [...]

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By Russ on May 10th, 2007

CSI: Ofcom — the Sky / Virgin Media battle continues

The MediaGuardian this morning* continues its coverage of the Sky / Virgin Media dispute in light of Virgin Media’s dismal 1Q07 results. Richard Wray writes:
Virgin Media lost nearly 47,000 customers in the first three months of this year and warned yesterday that more were likely to follow after the decision by BSkyB to pull [...]

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By Russ on May 08th, 2007

Ofcom on broadcast coverage of execution of Saddam Hussein

FromÂ today’s Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, available here [84-page, pdf]:
Given the unique nature of the events, Ofcom considers in both instances the use of the pictures was justified by the context, so that there was no breach of the Code. At all times the footage was curtailed to events surrounding the execution; the moment of death was [...]

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By Russ on May 08th, 2007

Ofcom’s Ed Richards in America: speak softly and carry a big yardstick…

Seeking to take advantage of the ’shopportunity’ created by the two-dollar-pound increase Ofcom’s exposure to U.S. marketplace and regulatory developments, Ofcom CEO Ed Richards recently went to America. Interestingly, there’s very little if any coverage of the trip — it must have been intentionally low-key. I suppose Ofcom did not want to upstage [...]

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By Russ on May 04th, 2007

Friday round-up

Well, folks, it’s the end of another week.Â Here is what’s buzzing around OfcomWatch HQ:
*Â The Future of News.Â I have heard a few times lately — cannot remember where — that Ofcom is about to release some work product on the future of news.Â Anyway, I’m told we can expect that document in the [...]

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By Russ on May 03rd, 2007

Ofcom publish telephone numbering guide

Ofcom today publishedÂ A User’s Guide To Telephone Numbering.
We here at OfcomWatch applaud Ofcom’s effort to create, albeit somewhat belatedly, a telephone numbering guide.Â Luke and I were actually going to create one soon, but someone at Ofcom beat us to it.Â But this guide is much better than we could have done.Â For example, Ofcom [...]

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By Russ on May 01st, 2007

Ofcom’s PSP: ‘Who said that providing [public service content] cannot be done profitably’?

OfcomWatch received the following comment from Dimitris Kareklidis:
‘I attended the seminar too and I do agree with all the points you made. It was a useful event that highlighted the weakness of the argument for a PSP. The greatest fallacy of all is the government and OfComâ€™s, obsession if I may say, with the market [...]

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